Many different types of conventional light fixtures are used to illuminate refrigerated display cases or coolers that house food and beverages, typically in grocery stores and convenience stores. These light fixtures use different types of light sources ranging from incandescent to halogen to light emitting diodes (LEDs). However, the light from these conventional fixtures is generally poorly controlled, which reduces the operating efficiency of the fixture and the cooler. Poorly controlled light falls outside the target area to be illuminated and/or does not properly illuminate that area, which degrades the appearance of the contents of the cooler (e.g. food or beverage products within the cooler). Also, poorly controlled light, even from low wattage sources such as LEDs, can cause glare to consumers standing or walking outside the cooler. In addition to ineffective illumination of the target area, poorly controlled light reduces the operating efficiency of the conventional fixture and the cooler which results in higher operating costs and increased wear on electrical components. This wasted light not only consumes excess energy, but distracts from the visual appearance of the target by illuminating areas outside of the target boundaries.
Moreover, conventional LED fixtures for use within refrigerated cases and coolers typically feature a large, elongated housing and an elongated light engine that includes a significant quantity of LEDs populating an elongated Printed Circuit Board (PCB). As a result, these conventional LED fixtures have large dimensions and accordingly only a small number of these fixtures may be installed within a cooler to illuminate the contents therein. Due to their large dimensions and space requirements, conventional LED fixtures have limited design applications and their configurations cannot be easily adjusted or tailored to meet the installation and performance requirements of different coolers, including coolers having different interior dimensions and configurations as well as different operating conditions.
Accordingly, there is a need for an LED lighting system fixture that precisely controls the generation and direction of the emitted light to efficiently illuminate a desired target area and minimizes illumination of areas surrounding the target area, and thereby improves the operating performance and efficiency of the system and cooler. There is also a need for an LED lighting system comprising multiple lighting modules that can be arrayed and installed within a cooler support member, thereby enabling the LED lighting system to be tailored to meet the installation and performance requirements of different coolers and different support members.